Tesla CEO Elon Musk has often been called a disruptor, with many of his companies taking big risks in challenging old ways of thinking. Now one of his electric vehicles, the Tesla Model 3, has also become a major disruptor in the luxury sedan market.
When the Model 3 was first released in the summer of 2017, legacy automakers in the luxury sedan market weren’t paying much attention to the EV. For most, not much has changed since then as the number of EV’s available from them has been limited to a handful. Even if they have released an EV, they still can’t compare to the overall value of the Model 3.
A recent report from wheelsjoint.com shows that maybe they should taken the California automaker a little more seriously, as sales of luxury sedans that compete with the Model 3 have seen a drastic reduction in sales since its release.
It is quite clear from the graph above to see the Falcon Heavy like rise of the Model 3 as production ramped up though 2017 into 2018. It is also quite clear to see the once-popular BMW 3-series going from a high of nearly 150,000 vehicles sold in 2014, down to less than 50,000 through 2018.
Another perennial favourite in the segment is (or was) the Mercedes Benz C-class. From its release in 1993, the Mercedes sedan has seen steady increases in sales almost every year, reaching highs of nearly 100,000 sales in both 2013 and 2015. Then came along the Model 3, and sales dipped from those highs by nearly half to less than 50,000 units in 2019, levels not seen for a decade.
Unless legacy automakers begin to realize the shift to electric vehicles has already begun, and they start offering up real alternatives to Tesla vehicles, in particular the Model 3, it is not inconceivable to think of a future where the likes of BMW and Mercedes are reduced to niche players in the auto industry, before eventually receding into nothing.
Featured image via Autoblog
